Biden listens to top Central American leaders

Source: AP

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden on Monday told Central American leaders pushing the United States to slow its record pace of deportations to be patient since it will not change in the short-term amid the U.S. economic downturn.

Biden's one-day visit is the first to Central America by a top-level U.S. official since President Barack Obama took office in January, and he promised to work together with leaders to strengthen ties with a region that has felt ignored by Washington.

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The deportations and U.S. economic downturn have hit the region hard. During the last quarter of 2008, money sent home by Central American migrants living in the U.S. fell 4 percent, compared to the same period the previous year, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.

Remittances are a major source of foreign revenue for Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Before the crisis, the amount of money sent to these countries was growing steadily every year.

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"We are not putting together a policy for the hemisphere," Biden said. "We are putting together a policy with the hemisphere."

But with the way this country has conducted itself, it probably is. Central Americans shouldn't let down their guard for one second.